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'Sir <mark>Rupert Hamer</mark>&#39;s government of the 1970s, in particular, left a legacy of environmental concern and legislative reform that continues to enrich the state&#39;s famed liveability. The Hamerite Victorian Liberal tradition is founded on such things as the'

'Both suggest following the lead of <mark>Rupert Hamer</mark> and his planning minister Alan Hunt, who 40 years ago foresaw a need for regional planning authorities to develop the city&#39;s &#39;&#39;green wedges&#39;&#39; - farmland and open space between the endless suburbia'

'He would not rule out more commercial and residential development in the corridors dubbed &#39;&#39;Melbourne&#39;s lungs&#39;&#39; by their champion, former Liberal premier Sir <mark>Rupert Hamer</mark>. The move comes amid mounting controversy over fund-raising by Liberal MPs in'

Timeline

CHILDHOOD

TWENTIES

193620 Years Old
Dick Hamer was educated at Geelong Grammar School and graduated in law from the University of Melbourne, where he was resident at Trinity College from 1936.
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He was a member, with his brother Alan, of the College First XVIII Australian Rules football team, and was Secretary of the Student Club. Read Less

193923 Years Old
He joined the Australian Army in 1939 and served at Tobruk and El Alamein and in New Guinea and Normandy.
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After the war he became a partner in his family's law firm and was active in the Liberal Party. Read Less

194428 Years Old
In 1944 he married April Mackintosh, with whom he had five children.

FORTIES

195842 Years Old
In 1958 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council for East Yarra Province.

196246 Years Old
He was appointed to the cabinet of the long-serving Premier, Henry Bolte, in 1962, becoming Assistant Chief Secretary.

196448 Years Old
He was Minister for Local Government 1964–1971.
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After Deputy Premier Arthur Rylah was forced to retire due to a stroke, Hamer was elected in a by-election for Rylah's Legislative Assembly seat of Kew in East Melbourne. He immediately assumed Rylah's portfolios of Deputy Premier and Chief Secretary. Although he was loyal to Bolte, he had a reputation for being much more liberal than his rough-edged conservative leader. Read Less

FIFTIES

197256 Years Old
Bolte retired in 1972 and Hamer succeeded him as Liberal leader and Premier, despite opposition from the conservative wing of the party.

197357 Years Old
Hamer represented such a sharp change from the Bolte era that he was able to campaign in the 1973 election as a new, reformist leader, despite the fact that the Liberals had been in power for 18 years.
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Employing the slogan "Hamer Makes It Happen", he won a landslide against the Labor opposition under Clyde Holding, increasing his party's already large majority. He won an even larger victory in 1976, also defeating Holding.<br /><br /> Hamer, assisted by key allies such as Planning Minister Alan Hunt, Conservation Minister Bill Borthwick, Attorney-General Haddon Storey, Social Welfare Minister Vasey Houghton, Housing and Youth Sport and Recreation Minister Brian Dixon and Community Welfare Services Minister Walter Jona moved to modernise and liberalise government in Victoria. Environmental protection laws were greatly strengthened, the death penalty was abolished, Aboriginal communities were given ownership of their lands, abortion and homosexuality were decriminalised and anti-discrimination laws were introduced. Restrictions on shop trading hours, and on public entertainment on Sundays, were eased. A major new centre for the performing arts was built in the centre of Melbourne. These measures won the support of middle-class voters, and the Melbourne daily The Age, which had been critical of Bolte during his later years in power, strongly supported Hamer's government. Read Less

197458 Years Old
Hamer was instrumental in the introduction of the Historic Buildings Act 1974 and made significant moves in 1977 which guaranteed the protection of several significant buildings including the Windsor Hotel and Regent Theatre in Melbourne and Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo.

LATE ADULTHOOD

197963 Years Old
By 1979, however, the gloss was wearing off the Hamer image, as Victoria was beset by increasing economic difficulties, rising unemployment, industrial unrest and a decline in Victoria's traditional manufacturing industrial base.
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At the same time, the Labor Party was mounting a stronger challenge to the Liberals than it had in some time. Frank Wilkes had taken over as ALP leader from Holding in 1977, and took Labor into the 1979 election with a realistic chance of winning government for the first time since 1955. Ultimately, the Liberals suffered an 11-seat swing, losing many seats in eastern Melbourne. Their majority was reduced to only one seat, although they could also count on the support of the rural-based National Country Party.<br /><br /> In spite of the setback, Hamer continued in office. He promoted some new younger ministers such as Lou Lieberman (Planning), Norman Lacy (Educational Services and The Arts) and Jeff Kennett (Housing) who continued to pursue a reformist liberal agenda particularly in human services, education, environment protection, planning and the arts. It reformed the administration of the highly centralised Department of Education in Victoria into a regionalised organisation with devolution of greater control to local schools. It established a Special Assistance Program to address illiteracy and innumeracy in primary schools. It introduced a Health and Human Relations Education curriculum and compulsory Physical Education in government schools. Also, it completed the construction of the Victorian Arts Centre, established the Australian Children's Television Foundation, established the Meat Market Craft Centre, acquired and established the Heide Museum of Modern Art, created Film Victoria and reconstituted the Victorian College of the Arts. Read Less

198266 Years Old
Hamer remained active in public and community affairs after his retirement. He was chairman of the Victorian State Opera from 1982 to 1995, president of the Victorian College of the Arts from 1982 to 1996 and a patron of the Public Transport Users Association from 1989.

Shortly after his death in 2004, the main concert hall of the Melbourne Arts Centre, of which Hamer had played a significant role in its development and the arts in Victoria generally, known as the Melbourne Concert Hall, was renamed the Hamer Hall.

He died of heart failure in his sleep on 23 March 2004, and his family accepted the offer of a state funeral from the Labor Premier, Steve Bracks.
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Hamer was praised by Victorians of all political views. The former Labor federal president, Barry Jones, called him "the finest flower in the Victorian Deakinite tradition."<br /><br /> Despite being a knight, Hamer was a staunch republican and a member of the Australian Republican Movement's advisory committee. Read Less